Eddie Gamarra — Literary Manager

How long have you been agent and how did you get your start Eddie?

I am a literary manager/producer. I will have been at my current company for 5 years in June 2009. I first worked for Nickelodeon Home Video as the Executive Assistant and then became a Legal Assistant for Viacom Litigation back in the mid-90s while I was getting my MA in Cinema Studies from NYUs Tisch School for the Arts. I left the Biz and went to Emory and did a PhD in psychoanalysis and film from the Graduate Institute of Liberal Arts. I stayed on as a Visiting Assistant Professor but then missed the Biz so much I headed west with no job in 2003. I landed an assistant gig at Alloy (Gossip Girl, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) but moved to The Gotham Group in 2004.

What makes your agency different than any others?

The company was founded over 15 years ago and specialized in repping folks who worked in TV animation. Nowadays we cover writers, directors, authors, artists, publishers and animation studio who in all genres, all demographics and all media. Our company is known for repping an enormous library of underlying material. We also produce films, TV series, DVDs and online content.

What are you looking for specifically that you wish you would see more of?

Laugh out loud comedy scripts. They are the hardest thing to find.

Eddie what are you tired of receiving?
Books about girls and their first kiss.

How can a new writer get your attention in a good way?
Their writing should pop. It should be well-written and clean. I was a professor so it always kills me when I read poorly written and sloppy work. It should be commercial but fresh.

How can a signed writer stay in your radar without driving you insane?
Not sure what you mean by a signed writer.

What do you wish more writers understood about you as an agent Eddie that they don’t seem to?
As a manager, I wish more writers understood the fiscal and legal machinations of the industry. I wish they understood that we read tens of thousands of pages a year and that current clients/deals always have to take priority, so the review & response process can be terribly slow. Writers should also research thoroughly the nature of the company to which they are reaching out. Dont pitch a horror to a company that does comedy.

What’s the best way for a writer to reach you?
By referral. Cold calls and submissions get dumped immediately. There are valid legal reasons for this. We work in the field of intellectual property and writers should never just send out their ideas willy nilly. We need an exec, an agent, a lawyer or a current client to refer folks to us.